Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"I can't believe you're wearing that thing."

	$Shampoo: Why, what's wrong with wearing a pink fur trimmed, chrome
studded, yellow leather dominatrix outfit in public?

"It is formal wear, as you always seem to bring up whenever I wear it.
And
we are dining in a formal place, yes?"

	<snip>

Still, she ended up doing as he bade by remaining silent as Jaddo
informed
the maitre d' that they had a reservation. The sharply dressed man
reacted
instantly to their names and personally escorted them to a table in the
back
where their companion waited for them, the maitre de informing them that
the

	$Is it de or d'?  You've used both.

proprietor could not wait for their arrival, even if they were on time,
and
had started dinner without them. It only took a moment for them to be
led to
a table in back where they met their appointment.

When Shampoo was about six, she had once heard her mother use the term
'corpulent.' Upon inquiring and being informed of what the word met,
Shampoo
asked her why she did not simply use the term 'fat.' At the time, her
mother's explanation of 'there are some words that, while having similar
meanings, are more appropriate than others,' was met with confusion.

	$Language is so fun.


	<snip>

"Actually no one's called me that in over five years, you beached
whale."
Jaddo retorted.

"No, no. I'm from England proper. And it's Welsh, not Whale. You damn
Aussies always seemed to get that confused. Comes from living on an
island
that thinks it's a continent."

	$That's...  Beautiful.  Wow.

Shampoo could not have helped laughing even if she wanted to, which she
did
not. It was terribly fun watching someone disturb the nearly unflappable
Jaddo, and this oddly named man was doing an expert job of it.


	<snip>


The second figure was another Caucasian woman that was as ugly as the
first
was beautiful. She was very tall and built for power. Her blood-red gi,
that
had a stylized brown bear etched on the front, could do little to hide
her
muscular build.

	$Hmm...  Her blood-red gi had a stylized brown bear etched
(embroderied?  sounds better to me) on the front, and could do little to
hide her muscular build.

 Her hair was black, and cropped short to her scalp. She
posed with her hands on her hips, expressing her strength with her
stance.
There was a fierce, proud look to her eyes, but, despite that, Shampoo
did
not get the impression the woman was either cruel or arrogant. There was
something like the hint of a soft, hidden smile that dissuaded the young
warrior from that idea.

	<snip>


The next one was a huge Thai man that was a handful of centimeters
shorter
than the Northman. He was topless with huge pectorals and a chiseled
chest

	$topless, with huge

that looked like one could break rocks across it with a sledgehammer and
only manage to gain the man's attention. His arms were large, and there
was
a white wrap around his forearms and knuckles. His feet were likewise
wrapped up, though Shampoo wagered it was for protection rather than
from an
injury. The only garments he wore were a loose set of blue and red
trunks,
and a patch over his left eye. Unlike the others, he had a look in that
single blazing orb that marked him as somewhat cruel, though perhaps it
was
merely an effect of the lighting the picture had been taken in.

Finally, Shampoo went to the last figure in the picture...

...And saw her future husband and father of her children.

He was easily the most gorgeous man she had ever laid eyes upon. He was
another Caucasian,

	$Oh, interesting.  None of the Japanese made the grade?

 and incredibly handsome, with boyish good looks and a
winning smile, perched below a short mustache, that Snakebite could
never
hope to imitate. He was the smallest man of the lot, but his height did
not
matter. He was topless as well, with well-muscled arms and a perfect
abdomen
that Shampoo longed to run her hands over. It was either that or the
tangled
mess of black hair that lay on his scalp. She could spend all day
running
her hands through that too. And as to the rest of him, he wore tights
similar to how an acrobat or wrestler might, with blue covering the
upper
part while the legs were covered in white. He wore boots that were blue
on
one side and red on the other. His hands were balled up into fists on
his
hips, and he seemed to be thrusting his pelvis forward slightly. And
what
was there, well, the tights were very tight. Tight enough to do little
to
hide the packaging that lay beneath, and from all indications, whatever
woman managed to bag him would be very lucky indeed.

"Who is he?" Shampoo asked, her hand almost shaking. Of course he would
be
Jaddo's age by now, but it wouldn't matter. It just meant he was
experienced
and knew how to pleasure a woman. The only problem now was how to
challenge
him and throw the fight.

Beef smirked. "Heh. What'd I always tell ya, Jaddo? The girls can always
tell who the prime cut of meat in the picture is."

Jaddo gave a weak laugh at his friend's attempt at humor as he sat down
and
poured himself a glass of wine.

Beef smiled at Shampoo. "Can't you guess, you sweet little thing?"

It was in the smile, one of pride and arrogance, that Shampoo
understood.

	$Heheh, cute.  I'd kinda figured that.

She didn't want to. Her mind tried to reject the very thought, like the
concept of her parents engaging in sex, but this time the facts would
not be
denied, no matter how much she wanted them to. And once the horrible
truth
was accepted, she felt her heart shatter into a million pieces at that
same
exact moment. The weight of it was too much for the young Amazon to bear
as
she erupted into tears and began hitting her head into the table.

"Why did you have to destroy my dreams like that?" Shampoo wailed.

	$Doing the Tendo wail, eh?

"Serves you right," Jaddo told her flatly, making no attempt to stop
Shampoo
from trying to smash the table in half with her forehead.

Beef was lost in the past, unaware of what was transpiring around him.
"Those were the days, all right. The women all loved the 'Beef', Biff
Wellington could serve them. I tell you, I was getting paid nearly every
night to service those high-born Imperial women. Had to put a moratorium
on
it the night before a fight so I had enough energy to win. Sometimes
they'd
get into bidding wars for my services, and when a couple of ladies from
the
powerful families got into an auction, you better believe I made a yen
or
two. And the best part was, since I was a freelancer, I kept everything.
Damn well paid for this whole restaurant, shipping interests, and other
businesses I got with that stuff."

"You were such a whore," Jaddo said idly.

A hard chortle from Beef made him wobble in his seat. "Hell, man, I'd
have
done some of them for nothing with how good-looking they were. And as
you
were wont to say, even ugly women need loving too.

	$Good attitude.

 I was great for all the
women's morale. It was my civic duty to help them gain some confidence
and a
bit of afterglow. And is it somehow my fault they were willing to pay
top
dollar for the time of their lives? Heck. I still get a call every now
and
then from some of the ladies from way back when to see if I might be up
for
another roll."

"And do they recoil in disgust when they see that their fantasy has
grown
even greater in size on them?" Jaddo asked.

Beef smirked. "Not all of them. Some like style over appearance."

	$Austin Powers: But _how_?  Not the desire, I just can't see _how_ they
could do it!  I mean, the mechanics...

Shampoo made a gagging noise and turned green.

"What's wrong?" Beef wondered if she was choking on a piece of food.

Jaddo said, "She probably visualized you having sex in your current
shape.
And now that I have too, I think I'll start gagging as well."

"Sorry. My apologies. Why don't we change the subject?" Beef said
sincerely.
"That picture in your hand there, my dear Shampoo, bears the images of
the
infamous Six Pack from the Year of the Dragon." He raised a wine glass
in a
toast towards Jaddo, who responded in kind by clanging their glasses
together. Once the light ringing stopped, each then drained their drink
in a
single gulp.

"Year of the Dragon?" Shampoo asked.

Beef looked at her curiously. "You've never heard people talk about it?
I'm
surprised. I would have assumed at least Wombat would have told you."

"Didn't see any reason for it before," Jaddo said. "Go ahead and tell
her.
It's not like it's a secret.

Beef nodded and began the tale. "That was the best year ever in Arena
history. No other field of fighters has ever come close to the talent
level
we had in that year. Any of the top six fighters, the six of us in that
picture, would easily have won in almost any other year. But that was
the
year of the greatest champion ever in the Arena history: the Year of the
Dragon, Jun Fan Li." Beef indicated the Chinese man in the picture. "His
handle was 'The Dragon.' Best fighter the Arena ever produced beyond any
doubt. Now he's a legendary action film star and probably worth even
more
than me. Heck, me and Wombat even got to be in one of his movies real
early
on. He could make a mean won ton noodle dish too, let me tell you.

	$Aha, Beef shares the wonton passions, too, eh?

 If he
hadn't become a movie star, he could have been a halfway decent chef."

"You're digressing," Jaddo informed him.

"Oops. Always do that when I'm thinking of food," Beef sheepishly
admitted.
"We were dubbed the 'Six Pack' by the press, and the name stuck. Real
international cast too. You had me from England. Wombat from Australia.
The
blonde you see in the photo was Colt Remington.

	$Yeesh, what a name.  Why are americans typically portrayed as
obssessive/compulsive gun nuts?

 An American, and she looked
even more beautiful in person than in that picture. Woman next to her
was a
Russian named Nikita 'Icebreaker' Kolodenko. Her name came from account
of
her being ugly enough to break ice with just her looks. Strong as an ox
too.
Only person I ever saw lay out Sagat with one shot, though it was a
lucky
one." Beef looked at the picture affectionately. "Should have married
that
girl."

"She is beautiful," Shampoo said.

Beef looked at her incredulously. "What are you, blind? She looks like
she
hit every branch of the ugly tree on the way down, then climbed back up
for
seconds."

"Oh," Shampoo said, surprised. "I assumed you meant Colt."

	$Err, how did she assume that?  Seems like a bit of a stretch, as it
flowed right along with his description of the russian.

"Lord no! Remmy was a total bitch," Beef said. He got a nod of agreement
from Jaddo. "Now Nikki was one of the nicest women I ever met. But she
didn't feel the same way about me. Always thought I was a cheap slut."

"Which shows she was perceptive," Jaddo mentioned.

"Not true. I was a very expensive slut," Beef said philosophically.

	$Guy's got a point.

"But
that's all in the past. I heard she got married to a citizen and had a
gaggle of kids. Good for her, I say. She deserved to be happy. Couldn't
have
happened to a nicer girl."

Finished with his trip to the past, Beef said, "And continuing on to the
last guy you don't know. I mentioned him before, but will point out that
tall, bald, and gruesome's name was Sagat. He didn't have a handle on
account there wasn't one that could have possibly done him justice. Man
had
the meanness in him big time, and he looked as miserable as could be. He
either disliked or was ambivalent towards most people, though he seemed
to
like me well enough. Never could figure out why."

"It was odd," Jaddo agreed. "You two had nothing in common."

Beef nodded his head enthusiastically. "Tell me about it. When it became
obvious he wouldn't reflexively try to bite my head off for venturing
too
close, I tried telling him jokes all the time, but I couldn't even make
him
crack a smile. I tell you, I would have given up women for a week just
to
see him smile once." Beef shook his head once before returning his
attention
to his audience. "Anyway, as I was saying, any other year almost any one
of
us would have been an easy bet to win the tournament, but not that year.
It
was the best series from quarters on. All the historians agree.

"I remember it like it was yesterday. Me and Remmy got eliminated in the
quarters. I lost to Jun, which I didn't mind so much since he was the
best.
Ole' Wombat got Remmy good."

"Wasn't easy," Jaddo admitted. "Colt fought hard that day."

Beef snickered. "She always hated to be called by her first name, and
you
wouldn't use anything but it. I think it's one of the reasons she hated
you
more than anyone else, the bitch. I tell you, after that fight, she
really
wanted your blood. You remember how vile her temper was. You're probably
lucky she didn't try to whack you after the fight instead of
disappearing
without a word to anyone the way she did."

"I could have taken her again," Jaddo bragged.

"Not with your leg all messed up, you wouldn't have.

	$Did she mess it up?  It's a bit comfusing.

 You weren't that much
better than her," Beef told him. "Anyway, so Sagat and Nikki got it easy
and
meet in the semi's and have the battle of the hard punchers: sambo
against
kickboxing. Sagat came out on top in a real ringbuster. Nikki put up a
heck
of a fight, but Sagat was a monster. He was able to take the damage
better
and won it. But the real gem of the tournament was the other semi-final
battle. It's still ranked in the top five fights ever."

"One of the top three through five," Jaddo corrected. "Run and Gun fight
in
'88 was better. And no one will ever top Lamagh and Kuroyama's fight."

Beef turned to Shampoo. "I'm not sure how familiar you are with Arena
history, but that's agreed by everyone as the best fight ever. They
fought
each other so hard that they literally beat each other to death.
Kuroyama
was the last one standing, so technically he won, but since he dropped
dead
three seconds after Lamagh did, they were both awarded citizenship
posthumously."

There was an unmistakable touch of reverence in Beef's voice, a
testament to
the connection he felt with two fellow fighters, even though they had
been
dead long before he had entered his first dog pit. Jaddo reflected upon
it
as well with a somber look on his face. Shampoo wondered if she should
feel
a certain kinship as well, now that she was a fighter for the Empire
like
they were. A part of her wondered if she would end up the same, fighting
to
the death in a battle before the world and spoken in such respectful
tones
by strangers. As much honor as that could be, Shampoo found she
preferred
triumphing rather than suffering a much talked about, but ultimately
tragic,
fate.

	$Yeah, really.

With the tribute to the fallen over, Beef continued with his tale, "But
after those two fights, the battle between Wombat and the Dragon was
definitely it. It went fifty-seven minutes, one of the longest fights
ever.
And we aren't talking each man taking a breather here and there or
wrapping
the other in a hold while trying to choke his opponent out. It was hard
knocks all the way to the last minute. Now Wombat is good, but I don't
think
there's a man alive that will say he's better than the Dragon, even him.
But
he just wouldn't give up. I never saw anyone fight so far beyond their
ability like he did that day. He refused to allow himself to lose, and
Jun
knew it. It took him nearly ten minutes of pure offense to shatter
Wombat's
hip and drop him at last."

"Is that how you got your limp?" Shampoo asked, a hint of awe in her
voice.

	$Okay, but the way it was said before made it sound like Remmy did it,
or at least hurt it some.

Jaddo nodded his head. There wasn't a hint of bragging in his voice as
he
recalled the events. "Yah. Whole lot of bloodletting went on that day.
Hurt
for a month afterwards. Was fighting hard for... what I wanted.
Sometimes a
man just won't admit he lost, even long after he has. Not when the
stakes
are high. Li had me beat by the forty-five minute mark. I just wouldn't
admit it to myself. Still, I'm not sorry for the effort I put into it,
even
if I can admit I lost to the better man. I did my best, there isn't the
slightest doubt in my mind. I understood a long time ago that there's
always
a bigger dog out there, no matter how good you get. Remember that."

	$Unless, apparently, you're Ranma.  -_-

The new information, especially coming from an outside source, made
Shampoo
look at her mentor in a new light. Suddenly, he did not seem so much
like an
old, hard-nosed slave-driver that enjoyed inflicting torture, cleverly
disguised as training, on innocent young girls. Rather, he seemed more
like
a determined man that had been driven to greatness in his youth and had
come
to terms with coming close to his goal but ultimately falling short.
Though
there was still something else about him that was nagging at her. Some
odd
part in his demeanor during his reflections of the past that didn't have
so
much to do with the fighting. It was something else, and it seemed to be
when he referred to his goals in the fight.

	$Bah, probably a girl.

 However, she could have been
wrong and was completely misinterpreting the gestures. Jaddo was a man,
and
a nearly impossible one to decipher.

"Enough talk of the past," Beef announced to his companions. "Since this
is
my place, I shall take the liberty of ordering for you. Nothing but the
best, I shall see to it myself or heads shall roll." He waved one of the
waiters to the table and placed the order for his companions, as well as
another plate for himself. He also made certain to have one of his best
wines delivered to the table while they waited for their food.

When the bottle arrived, he informed his companions "I have the largest
wine
cellar in all of Hong Kong. Personally, I'm no connoisseur, but you'd be
amazed at how much money other people will pay to claim they are." He
laughed at the all too common human foible.

Jaddo examined the bottle, which looked like any other bottle of wine to
him. "How much does it cost?" He couldn't see a price tag on it.

"How much do you make in a year?"

Jaddo's eyebrows shot up at that. He was about to protest when Beef gave
a
dismissive wave with his plump hand, intent on heading off the
protestation.
"Good business dealings have made me three times as wealthy as I was the
last time we met, and the future looks better than ever. I'm big enough
now
I could probably merge with one of the conglomerates, if it wasn't for
the
fact I enjoy my freedom so much. Besides, what use is wealth if I don't
share it with one of the few I count as a true friend?" He turned to
Shampoo. "My dear, I assume your mentor, hard ass that he is, allows you
to
drink?"

"He does not have the authority to tell me what I can and cannot have. I
can
drink whatever I want and however much I want," Shampoo sniffed.

Jaddo gave her a sly look. "Yah. I hope you do. It'll be fun watching
you
lurch around drunk and hit on ugly guys.

	$Drink till they're cute.

 And then when your hangover sets
in, I'll be banging some pans around to help you greet the day."

"You'd do it too, wouldn't you?" Shampoo said through a half-lidded
stare.

"Who, me?"

The look of what would have been pure innocence on anyone else was the
only
confirmation Shampoo needed. She would have to watch her drinking, lest
she
imbibe too much and Jaddo make good on his threat. But one of these days
she
would have to get really and truly drunk, just to know what the
experience
was like.

	$Awesome.  Incredibly fun.  One of the top ten ways I can imagine
spending an evening.

	As long as it's someone else, and I'm able to laugh at them.  Why, yes,
I do enjoy the suffering of others.  Why do you ask?

 Her mother had allowed her to drink small amounts of wine and
such, but not in any great amounts. However, her limited experience with
alcohol allowed her to handle the wine Beef had provided with practiced
ease. The taste of the red liquor was sweet with just a hint of
bitterness
lying underneath. Shampoo had little doubt this was indeed one of the
best
wines Beef had to offer.

She had finished one glass and was starting on the second when her eyes
caught sight of a figure entering the ladies room. In a heartbeat,
Shampoo
rose to her feet and excused herself.

"Where are you off to in such a hurry?" Jaddo asked.

"I saw an acquaintance of mine." Shampoo hurried off without a glance
back.

Jaddo shrugged at Beef. "You know women. Can't just go to the restroom
alone
and get business done. Got to do it in groups."

"Too true, my old friend." Beef agreed as he dug into his meal with
gusto
once again.

	$Gusto, gusto...  Heh.  For the longest time I thought that that was
some sort of obscure Italian dish.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Stay relaxed, girl," Link reminded herself as she stared at her image
in
the mirror of the empty restroom. Her make-up was flawless: every touch
of
lipstick and eye-shadow was perfect, neither too much nor too little.
There
wasn't a stitch out of place on the dress of red and orange that she had
purchased for this specific occasion. It had taken her over an hour to
get
her hair just right, but again, it was a masterpiece, making her look
older
than her sixteen years without trying to look older. Everything was just
as
it needed to be.

	$Whoops.  Not quite.

This could be it. The big one. After weeks of going out of her way to
woo
him, Komimasa had finally asked her out. It was a like a dream come
true. He
was a serious hunk, and made some serious money. Being an up-and-coming
reporter with Hong Kong's biggest news agency, he had prestige attached
to
his name as well. And she knew for a fact he was unattached to any
women.
This could be her chance to land a nice boyfriend and shut her damned
sister
up. Even better, she could rub Pink's nose in the fact that her
boyfriend
(if things went well) was everything Snakebite was not. Given Pink's
deluded
state when it came to Thomas Cantrel, she would not see things that way,
but
at least Link would have the satisfaction of knowing the truth.

All that was left was deciding how far to let Komimasa go if he pressed
the
issue. There was one thing Pink had been correct about in their
pointless
argument earlier in the day; it had been a long time since Link had
shared
her bed with anyone. Komimasa was a major turn-on, but she wanted him
for a
long term commitment, and if she gave too much too fast all she would
have
to show for her trouble would be a good roll in the sack. She would
still
come out ahead, but she wanted to go for the brass ring this time on the
merry-go-round of life.

	$Although, she amended, the ring had _better_ not be brass.

Since she had arrived at the restaurant early, not taking any chances on
missing this once in a lifetime opportunity, she still had time to wait
for
Komimasa to arrive. And now that she had assured herself she still
appeared
perfect, she relaxed somewhat. Link lowered her face to the faucet and
held
her hand under it, dabbing just a touch of water on her forehead so as
to
refresh herself without marring her make-up. As she rose back up to her
full
height, she saw that there was a girl about her age, with long locks of
purple hair and a beautiful green dress, standing right behind her. The
stranger was easily violating her personal space. The girl had a smile
on,
but it was not the sort that made you want to smile back, it reminded
Link
of the way a cat would smile at a bird with a wounded wing.

Link began to turn around, confident she could handle anything. After
all,
she was a high-ranking arena fighter. "Can I help-"

The rest went unanswered as Shampoo nailed Link in the jaw before she
had
managed to turn completely around. Dazed by the unexpected force behind
the
blow, Link was left barely able to stand. That simply helped Shampoo, as
she
grabbed Link by the back of her dress and drove her towards one of the
stalls in the restroom. Link only gave a muted sound of protest as she
felt
her head forced in against the doorframe of the stall. She tried to
move,
but was far too stunned and weak to overcome Shampoo's advantage. A
moment
later, the resounding thud of metal meeting skull filled the restroom,
and
Link's limp body slumped in Shampoo's grip.

Shampoo smirked in satisfaction at the unconscious girl. "That's what
you
get for sucker punching me. I'd have gone easier on you if you left it
at
that, but you just had to spit on me. And, for your information, I don't
give a damn about that sleazy Snakebite."

	$Nothing like a good grudge match to light a fire under the audience,
especially if they play it up.  She going to do a doubles?  And do we
see it next chapter?

Once calmed down, Shampoo considered the situation. Someone discovering
an
unconscious girl in the restroom would cause problems during the meal
and
might break it up if Beef had to deal with the matter. So Shampoo
grabbed
Link's limp form, sat it on top of one of the toilets, making sure it
would
not fall over, then locked the door from the inside and carefully slid
underneath the space at the bottom of the stall. She examined herself
closely in the mirror, straightened her dress up, and exited much
happier
than when she entered.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

It was over an hour later that Shampoo let out a breath of air as she
departed the restaurant. She was stuffed from all of the excellent food
she
had eaten, and a bit tipsy from all of the wine she had consumed. Had
she
owned 'Mama Lucia's she might have become as obese as Beef had. It was
as
the Englishman had said, the Italians had undoubtedly perfected the art
of
pasta.

	$*sigh*  I know they cook good, but I've yet to find an Italian dish I
really like.


	<snip>

The mysterious girl turned a corner down an alleyway, giving Shampoo
only
the briefest glance of locks of blonde hair before the figure was out of
sight again. Determined not to allow the mysterious figure to elude her,
Shampoo gave up any pretense of subtly following and ran all out before
the
girl was lost from sight.

	$That's gotta be hell on the dress.

As Shampoo made it around the corner, she saw the alleyway was narrow
and
all of the ground level doors of the buildings lining it remained shut.
Certain that she would have heard the sound of a door closing given her
relative closeness to the area, Shampoo hurried to where the alley
turned
and hoped her prey was still ahead and merely out of sight.

It turned out that was exactly the case. The situation had turned
completely
around in Shampoo's favor. The alley was a dead end, and the mysterious
figure was looking at the solid three story wall in front of her, as
though
trying to figure a way out. Shampoo shook her head. Even on her best day
she
could never manage a leap of that height. The chase was over. The prey
had
been run to ground at last. Now there would be answers.

Remaining some distance from the figure, which would allow Shampoo to
react
if the girl tried to make a break for freedom, the Amazon called out,
"Why
were you following me?"

The figure remained silent, with its shoulders squared to the wall.
Shampoo
waited a full thirty seconds for a response. When none was forthcoming,
she
inched closer to the woman. If she did not receive an answer to a second
query, she would take her chances and move in to make the woman turn
around.
With her dress as confining as it was, Shampoo's movement would be
limited,
but she was certain that within the narrow confines of the alley it
would
make no difference if the girl tried to escape or fight.

Just as Shampoo opened her mouth the figure slowly began to turn around,
keeping its face low and hat pointed downward so as to continue hiding
its
face. Frustrated, Shampoo repeated, "Why were you following me? Who are
you?"

At last the figure brought its face up. A soft gasp escaped Shampoo's
lips.
It was impossible. Not the identity of the woman, (and there could be no
mistaking who it was despite Shampoo never having met her in person) but
rather it was the way the face belonging to her appeared. It was the
same.
Not a lot alike. Not very close to, but exactly the same.

"Howdy, pardner." Colt Remington tipped her hat towards Shampoo.

The sight before Shampoo made her remain silent, despite the hundreds of
questions that were on her lips. The girl standing before her was in her
early twenties, if not late teens. Everything about that face was the
same,
right down to the green eyes which held a hint of venom in them. It was
as
though someone had lifted the girl out of the picture of thirty years
past
and plopped her down in the present to follow, and then run away from,
Shampoo. And now all that was left were questions the young Amazon found
herself unable to give voice to.

Shampoo was about to mutter something about the impossibility of the
situation when Colt spoke again. "Since you're finally here, aren't you
going to do something?"

At first, Shampoo did not understand what the impossible girl before her
was
talking about. Then, upon looking closer at Colt, she realized she was
not
the one being addressed, but rather someone behind her. Combat instincts
coming to the fore, Shampoo spun around, not considering for one moment
that
that reaction had been Colt's plan from the start, to make her look away
in
order to take her eyes off her for a split second. There was too much
conviction in that voice for it to be a trick.

Again Shampoo's instincts were on the mark as she turned to confront two
figures that had entered the alleyway while she had been busy cornering
her
prey. They both wore black cloaks with the hoods drawn up and close to
the
face, hiding the identity of both individuals. One was a woman and about
Shampoo's height. The other was a giant of a man, nearly the Northman's
height, and almost as massive.

	$Sagat?

 Both held themselves easily, and Shampoo was
left with the impression they knew what they were doing.

The pair moved forward in the blink of an eye, closing the distance
between
them. Shampoo, caught by surprise both at their silent arrival and the
situation she had found herself in, barely had time to react. She leaped
high over a low kick the woman launched at her legs, but the dress
prevented
Shampoo from attaining the height she had desired. Though with how
quickly
the large man's attack came, she was uncertain if she could have evaded
it
anyway.

All Shampoo managed was a glance of a darker-skinned, clean-shaven jaw
one
moment before a huge fist slammed into her face, nearly sending her into
unconsciousness with the blow. As her body hit a wall and rebounded off,
a
kick from the cloaked woman came up into the lavender-haired girl's
stomach,
forcing the air from her lungs and sending white-hot shards of pain
through
her body. A vicious chop to the back of the neck finished the job, as
Shampoo fell to the ground with an audible thump, unmoving.

The taller man examined the fallen girl. Satisfied she was not acting,
he
turned to the blonde that had remained right where she had started
before
the brief fight. "Why did you let her spot you, Remmy?"

The blonde shrugged. "To be honest, I was so distracted by seeing that
stinking abo's little bitch, I wasn't paying attention to the fact she
was
going to sense my presence. And don't call me Remmy. My name is Colt.
You of
all people should know that."

"Point taken," the man's voice boomed. "Now, what should we do with the
girl?"

"Nothing," Colt said, "We don't have any orders concerning her, yet. I
know
she didn't see either of your faces with how fast you took her out. We
leave
her be and have her try to figure out what just happened, not that she
has a
chance in the world of that."

"She saw your face," the big man pointed out.

"It doesn't matter," Colt assured him. "No one will believe her. After
everyone looks at her funny for a couple of days, she won't believe her
memory either and assume she was confused."

"The mistress might like this one," the cloaked woman said with a hint
of
admiration in her voice.

"No." The manner in which Colt said it made the finality clear. "She's
little more than meat for me now. I want her toughed up so she can give
me a
good fight. It won't be worthwhile, otherwise."

"You should not make this so personal," the big man warned.

Colt laughed at that. "And do you mean to tell me the hell you've
undergone
isn't for vengeance? You hypocrite."

"Point taken," the man conceded. "Still, you might want to listen to
someone
who's gone to the lengths I have to attain vengeance; sometimes the cost
is
too high."

	$Dan Hibiki?

"Not for me," Colt said confidently. "Let's get going before she comes
around. She's a tough little bitch. I've seen her fight. She can take a
beating. It'll make the one I give her later on all the more enjoyable
if
she's a little tougher still."

The trio departed the alleyway, leaving a lone form lying silently on
the
unforgiving concrete.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"I'm telling you I was attacked by Remington!"

"Yah, yah. And I was doing twin supermodels, Yuki and Suki Yasuroka in
my
bed while you were gone. You just missed them when you dragged your ass
in
here."

Shampoo growled, but quickly stopped as the maneuver made a pain shoot
through her skull.

Jaddo softened upon seeing her in such pain. He grabbed a fresh icepack
from
their room's refrigerator and handed it to her to replace the partially
melted one that she had been using. "Look, I called Beef. He told me
that
you had a lot to drink-"

"I was not drunk!" Again Shampoo winced from the pain.

"I didn't say that," Jaddo said with unusual softness. "What I'm saying
is,
it probably affected your perception of things. That's how a pair of
street
toughs took you out in a couple of shots, and why you think you saw
Colt."

	$Funny, he didn't immediately strike me as a moron.  Of course, he's
got to disbelieve her for the story's purposes.

"I did see her," Shampoo insisted quietly. That didn't hurt as much.

	<snip>

"Then why didn't they take my money?" Shampoo asked.

"They probably got scared off by the group of kids that found you,"
Jaddo
said.

	$I can't believe he would say that.  Jaddo of all people should know
that is about as unlikely as finding an honest lawyer or a politician
who actually cares about something besides his own wallet.  Anyone good
enough to knock out Shampoo, and Jaddo knows she's a pretty good fiter
anyway, wouldn't be worried about a group of young theives.

"They weren't kids! They were little monsters."

	$Two names, same thing.

"Not one of them were over eight years old."

"Ha!" Shampoo ignored the pain this time. "When I was just starting to
come
around, I heard them talking about selling me to a slaver, at least
until
one of them said they thought I looked like a whore with the way I was
dressed. Then they thought I had escaped from my brothel and they could
return me for a reward. I came to just in time to keep the little
scumbags
from grabbing me."

Jaddo shrugged. "Kids are like that. S'why I never had any."

Shampoo rolled her eyes at his statement. Perhaps she had inadvertently
wandered into a rough neighborhood in her pursuit of Colt (and it had
been
Colt, no matter what Jaddo contended), but that was still no excuse for
children to behave in such a manner. At least they had been too young to
get
any other more lascivious ideas about her. Had she heard something along
those lines, she probably would have put them all over her knee and
spanked
them, pounding skull or not.

Shampoo decided to let the matter drop. On the surface, what Jaddo said
made
sense, and she knew damn well there was no way she could change his mind
without evidence. Reluctantly, she admitted that had their positions
been
reversed, she would have probably been as skeptical as he was.

	$But making up ridiculous statements like that?  I can't see him being
that naive.  I think this scene needs work.

 But she had
been there and did know the truth. She didn't understand what it meant,
and
could not afford to devote too much time to the mystery, given her
upcoming
match and moving into the fighters' dorm, but a part of her would be on
guard from now until she left Hong Kong for the big Arena in Japan.
Someone
was out there, watching and waiting for her. And she would be ready the
next
time they met.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Well, finally some other Ranma 1/2 characters (and various others from
anime) appear. And history repeats itself with Shampoo and the nature of
her
relationship with Pink and Link, proving that no matter how much some
things
change, some things remain the same. More on Hong Kong in the next
chapter,
which is coming along slowly. Will be a while before it sees the light
of
day.

	$Or, in other words, pretty soon now, eh?

	Well, that was a particularly good chapter.  I enjoyed it more than the
last several, but I didn't like the final scene.  Jaddo seems... Off, I
guess.  I am looking forward to the Pink and Link match, and I figure
we'll see Taro sometime in the future.

	Looking forward to it.

	Later.  (It's always later with me.)


-Ragun




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